The History of our Company

All Round Excellence in Civil Construction
Who we are, our history, our mission and goals,
our company profile, and our story

Our Company

1920

Scotty Johnstone arrives in Canterbury from Scotland and is hired by British Pavements, Christchurch as a labourer.

1946

Scotty transfers to the North Island to assist with the establishment of the Palmerston North branch of British Pavements. However, after facing many challenges, the company decides to disband its operation. Scotty makes a decision to ‘go it on his own’.

1948

Through pure determination to succeed, where British Pavements did not, Scotty secures a number of contracts which include first coat sealing and car park construction.

1952

Scotty purchases his first new truck. He installs a Bitumen tanker on it and assembles a fleet of surfacing vehicles to undertake local County Council sealing works. He also starts Feilding Sand & Shingle to supply the burgeoning construction market.

1960

Scotty makes the decision to go farming and sells his business, plant and equipment. After a year or so of farming, Donald Snr (Scotty’s son) is convinced roading contracting is a far better proposition. He buys back most of the plant and equipment and starts his own business – Pathways Manawatu Ltd.

Keen on innovation, Donald is the first to use caboperated sprayers which eliminate an additional man on the back of trucks. His use of a four axle 13,500 litre spray tanker is another Industry first. Don Snr expands his business beyond the boundaries of local operations and takes on State Highway and road resurfacing contracts throughout the North island.

1979

The new generation of Johnstones is ready. Sons Bruce and Donald Jnr follow in Donald Snr’s footsteps, although Bruce follows grandfather Scotty’s pathway into farming, after a number of years in the roading business. Donald Jnr (Don), however, remains in the roading industry and continues to be involved in JML to this day, together with his wife Tina Masters and family.

Our Missions and Goals

Solutions
We will think outside the square to deliver innovative and quality solutions for our clients’ construction needs.

People
People are our greatest asset. JML will provide assurance and confidence for our customers that OUR people know what the Industry standards are and will utilise their skills and excelling attitudes to be industry leaders.

Culture of Teamwork
The best customer service comes from great teamwork. Not only will we encourage OUR people to grow within our business and express their individual expertise, we’ll provide an environment where they can work together to achieve the end goals of any given project or situation.

Management
We will adhere to the highest Industry standards of management and practice by establishing sound processes that promote and ensure integrity, compliance and accountability.

Customer Focus
We will strive to provide greater value to our customers than our competitors. We will do this by fully understanding our customers’ needs and expectations so we can exceed them.

Our Story

Johnstone & Masters Ltd (JML) is a family-owned business with an international approach, solutions, methodologies, people, expertise and application. Driven by a strong sense of who we are and what we want to achieve for our customers, we’ve built a reputation of excellence in the civil construction industry. This is based firmly on our mission, goals and values.

We’re solutions-focused and we know our people are our greatest asset. With a frontline supported by dedicated, forward-thinking management, JML performs as a team to provide our customers with exceptional service. And, everything we do is done safely, sustainably with a focus on a quality end result.

With this approach our business has grown significantly. JML has gained contracts from large organisations throughout our local district and the Central North Island. Private sector businesses are also utilising our services widely. Since 2014, we’ve been a player in international projects, undertaking World Bank funded projects throughout the Pacific (and demonstrating our capacity to resource complex operations in remote locations with both plant and personnel).

When you combine 75 years and three generations of expertise with current best practice, the best resources and the best people, you get an outstanding customer proposition. Johnstone & Masters Ltd has the industry knowledge, capacity, resources and know-how to deliver exceptional outcomes for civil and
roading projects, no matter how large or how small.

Company Profile

The best customer service comes from great team work…

… and great team work is only possible when a company recruits and retains talented staff, supports them with industry-leading resources and empowers them to think and act. At JML that’s exactly what we do.

We’re committed to providing a high quality, professional service for civil construction and resurfacing clients throughout New Zealand and the Pacific. The results we achieve for our clients are possible, because we’ve grown an outstanding team focused on adding value to every aspect of the projects and contracts we deliver.

Our aim is simple – to deliver high quality workmanship which fully meets or exceeds our clients’ needs. In everything we do, we’re committed to exceptional results for our clients, delivered safely. We create safe working environments and provide the best customer service to achieve the best project outcomes.

JML invests heavily in the training and professional development of our people, in particular we focus on health and safety, quality workmanship and environmental systems. As a result the members of our JML team are highly experienced with a diverse set of skills which complement one another. This includes the ability to continually identify and action improvements to produce work which exceeds client expectation.

We’ve established a proven track record of excellence within the civil construction industry which includes:

Project management services – throughout New Zealand and
the Pacific Islands